MLK weekend walk-up ticket sales are on the rise. Disney reports on the 20th Century Studios Avatar: The Way of Water surpassed Sunday’s expectations at $11.6 million, while expectations were at $10.3 million. The 5th weekend of the James Cameron movie will make $40 million in four days, more significant than the $24.6 million for Spider-Man: No Way Home did a year ago for MLK weekend.

Avatar: The Way of Water’s cumulative total is now $572.4 million. This sequel’s next tentpole beats the all-time US/Canada box office list, where The Incredibles 2 was ranked 12th with a gross of $608.5 million.

Universal/Atomic Monster/Blumhouse’s M3GAN soared to $18.2 million in three days (a staggering 40% drop for a horror movie) after hitting nearly $6 million on Sunday, surpassing $21.7 million over four. The total amount was $60.2 million from Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, which also made $5.3 million on Sunday, $14.4 million over three days (+6%), and $19 million over four days, totaling $112 million. The film runs 8% behind the original Puss in Boots total on the fourth weekend, where the first film finished with $149.2 million in North America in 2011.

Sony’s Tom Hanks drama A Man Called Otto performed solidly, rising slightly to $3.6 million on Sunday, $12.8 million over three days, $15.3 million over four days, and $21.5 million over three weekends. A Man Called Otto aims to surpass expectations of $8 million in four days and actually boost old movies. The picture showed Friday expanded to 3,802 theaters, with revenue of $4 million, and in four days, was on track for $14 million. The film, which is in theaters until Monday, looks to stand at $20.2 million. This is incredibly better than what Babylon did during the four days of Christmas Weekend ($3.6 million) or I Wanna Dance With Somebody ($4.7 million) by Tri-Star/Compelling Pictures/Black Label Media.

Audiences on Rotten Tomatoes consistently preferred A Man Called Otto over critics, ranging from 97% to 69% fresh. In Comscore/Screen Engine PostTrak ratings, Hanks’ film gets 93% positive ratings and 76% recommendations. Overall, female voters turnout is 60%, with a total of 62% for that over 45 and 46 % for those over 55. The movie is set in Heartland, a part of the country where Hollywood needs to make more movies to regain domestic box office returns. Otto confirmed that all the top 10 runs came from the Midwest and South, with no Los Angeles and New York runs in the top 75 theaters.

After A Man Called Otto comes Lionsgate’s Plane, which secured $3.5 million Friday, coming in fifth in four days with $10.5 million to $11.7 million, the latter range beating the studio’s expectations. Actor Gerard Butler’s competition for the title is Universal’s Ambulance, where they raised $8.7 million in three days. The film Plane receives the same B+ rating as the last notable early-winter meat-and-potatoes action film made before the pandemic, Guy Ritchie’s Gentleman in January 2020 ($10.6 million). PostTrak’s exit is also good at 83%, with 63% recommending it. The evaluation shows that 54% were male, 47% were 18 to 34, and 51% were 35+ years old. Diversity demos were 44% White, 24% Latino and Hispanic, 17% Black, and 15% Asian/Other. Plane flew best in the South and West, where 9 of the top 10 runs occurred.

Below is the ranking for the movies during 2023’s first 16 days

1.) Avatar 2 (Dis) 4,045 (-295) theaters Fri $7M (-39%) 3-day $27M-$29M (-39%), 4-day $35M Total $566.7M/Wk 5

2.) M3GAN (Uni) 3,605 (+96) theaters Fri $4.85M (-59%), 3-day $17.5M(-42%) 4-day $20.7M Total $59.2M /Wk 2

3.) Puss in Boots 2 (Uni) 3,687 (-232) theaters Fri $3M (-10%) 3-day $12.46M (-8%)/4-day $16M/Total $109M/Wk 4

4.) A Man Called Otto (Sony) 3,802 (+3165) theaters, Fri $4M (+162%) 3-day $11.75M (+180%) , 4-day $14M/Total $20.2M/Wk 3

5.) Plane (LG) 3,023 theaters, Fri $3.54M, 3-day $9.5M, 4-day $10.5M-$11.7M/Wk 1

6.) House Party (NL) 1,350 theaters, Fri $1.4M, 3-day $3.6M 4-day $4M/Wk 1

7.) Wakanda Forever (Dis) 1,910 (-345) theaters Fri $524K (-46%) 3-day $2M (-43%), 4-day $2.5M Total $449.4M/ Wk 10

8) The Whale (A24) 1,500 (+665) theaters Fri $418,5K (-1%)  3 day $1.4M (-7%), 4-day $1.7M Total $10.99M/Wk 6

9.) I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Sony) 2,205 (-979 theaters) Fri $300K (-57%) 3-day $1.1M (-54%) , 4-day $1.3M, Total $22M/ Wk 4

10.) Waltair Veeraya (Ind) 350 theaters, Fri $318K, 3-day $1.08M, 4-day $1.2M/Wk 1